MILWAUKEE – It was the same, old story Wednesday as it was Tuesday. Or Thames, old story.

The Reds managed only three hits, they got a decent outing from the starter, and Eric Thames' two-run home run was the difference for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2-0 win before a crowd of 27,343 at Miller Park. That's exactly the same script as Tuesday.

Jesse Winker started the game with a drive over center fielder Chrisitan Yelich's head. Winker ended up at third when Yelich mishandled the ball.

Jose Peraza grounded out to third.

Joey Votto walked on four pitches.

Adam Duvall grounded back to the pitcher.

Scooter Gennett grounded out to second.

That was really the ball game.

“In that situation, you just need a groundball to score a run, you know?" Reds manager Bryan Price said. 'We have to appreciate runs. Look, everybody is trying. There’s no accusation here. Everybody here is completely invested in improving and getting better. But we have to take the small things.

"Taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning would be a really nice thing, and working with leads. It’s not like guys aren’t trying but we have to be more productive in those opportunity to score some runs."

The Reds are hitting .220 and slugging .319 as a team. They hit .253 and slugged .433 last year.

"We were able to do some things in Game 1 here," Price said. "We had no carryover. We have to find a way to do the things that are necessary, even if it’s one run at a time. Right now, we’re not hitting a lot of home runs or extra base hits. At this point, it’s appreciating the single run, inning-by-inning.”

The pitching has been good enough to win lately. The bullpen, in fact, has allowed one run over 15 ⅔ innings in the last six games.

But one mistake by a young pitcher has cost the Reds the game two days in a row.

Right-hander Tyler Mahle allowed a leadoff single to No. 8 hitter Jeff Bandy to start the third. After a failed sacrifice by pitcher Zach Davies, Mahle fell behind Thames 1-0. The next pitch was an 86-mph slider. Thames hit it out for his seventh of the year.

Thames has hit 38 home runs since returning from Korea. Twelve have come against the Reds.

The Reds didn't mess with Thames the next time he came up. They walked him to load the bases with two outs for Yelich. Mahle fell behind Yelich 3-0 but came back to strike him out on 95, 95 and 97-mph fastballs.

Mahle is a master of fastball location, but he struggles with his slider command at times.

"(I'm working on) throwing that slider where I want," he said. "I'm able to hit my spots with my fastball. Learning how to do that with the slider is going to make everything better."

Mahle ended up going five innings and allowing two runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out six. He had allowed 10 runs in 10 innings over his last two starts. Wednesday's start could have ended up with similar numbers if not for getting the big outs fourth and fifth.

"Those could have really gone south with just one pitch," Mahle said. "I was able to battle and get through it. But going through the lineup three times in five innings is not very efficient.

The Reds had a chance in the seventh. Alex Blandino was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He moved up on pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin's groundout. Billy Hamilton reached on an error.

The Reds put up a bit of fight in the ninth. Gennett walked to lead off. Tucker Barnhart hit a double-play ball, but second baseman Jonathan Villar bobbled and had settle for the out at first. Blandino struck out on three pitches. Pinch-hitter Cliff Pennington took a called third strike to end it.